The invention relates to cameras and photography and more particularly relates to a one-time-use camera having a closure and a method for preparing a one-time-use camera for recycling.
One-time-use cameras used today are intended to be recycled. After the pictures are taken, the camera is turned in for photofinishing, and the film is removed from the camera. Cameras are not typically recycled at the same facility that provides photofinishing, but instead are typically shipped to another facility before reuse. At intermediate stages, the cameras are commonly combined with cameras from other facilities and sorted by manufacturer and model.
Today""s one-time-use cameras made by major manufacturers have the characteristic of being relatively rugged and capable of withstanding considerable abuse. For this reason, little effort is commonly taken to protect one-time-use cameras from rough handling during shipping, sorting, and other steps of the recycling process. As a result, cameras can become contaminated internally. Examples of typical contaminants are dirt or other particular matter picked up by a camera during use. A more insidious contaminant is small particles off plastic from broken cameras. Another is segments of tape and adhesive from the tape strips commonly used by non-manufacturer one-time-use camera reloaders.
Contaminants are particularly troublesome in the film space of a camera, that is, the area of the camera that is occupied by film when the camera is reloaded. A reason is that a small particulate or other contaminant can be trapped so as to cause a scratch or streak on the film of the camera during later use.
A known partial solution to this problem is to limit access to the film space after removal of the film cartridge from the one-time-use camera. Some cameras provide this by use of a film door that only opens the film cartridge chamber, rather than exposing the entire back of the camera. This solution is not a complete cure, since the cartridge chamber is exposed, as is the film gate between the cartridge chamber and the exposure chamber. Thus, contaminants can move into the cartridge chamber and from there into the remainder of the film space.
It would thus be desirable to provide an improved one-time-use camera and method in which the cartridge chamber and other portions of the film space are closed off from the exterior when a used film cartridge is removed.
The invention is defined by the claims. The invention, in its broader aspects, provides a one-time-use camera that has a body having a cartridge chamber and an opening at one end. A film transport is disposed in the body. The film transport has an advance element adjoining the cartridge chamber opposite the opening. A closure is disposed in the cartridge chamber. The closure is slidable along the cartridge chamber between a first position, in which the closure engages the advance element, and a second position, in which the closure closes the opening. After picture taking, a film door is moved away from the opening, a film cartridge is unloaded from the cartridge chamber, and the closure is moved to the second position closing the empty cartridge chamber.
It is an advantageous effect of the invention that an improved one-time-use camera and method are provided in which the cartridge chamber and other portions of the film space are closed off from the exterior when a used film cartridge is removed.